User:Ximothy/Outerlands/Lightlands
The contents herein are entirely player made and in no way represent official Warcraft lore or history. The characters and events listed are of an independent nature and are applied for roleplaying purposes only.
 Lightlands | |
|---|---|
 Concept art | |
| Capital(s) | Sha'naresh City |
| Races |
  Human  Draenei  Lightforged draenei  Dwarf  Blood elf  Tauren |
| Government | Theocracy, Monarchy |
| Ruler(s) |
 Xe'ra, the Lightmother Grand Exarch Yrel |
| Languages | Draenei, Common |
| Faiths | Holy Light and Naaru |
| Affiliation | Army of the Light |
| Location | North-East Central Outerlands |
The Lightlands, located in the north-east of Central Outerlands, are the vast territories controlled by the colossal Army of the Light, those devoted to the Light and the Naaru. The old lands were once home to various kingdoms and civilisations however those that did not join the growing Army of the Light or one of the associated Crusades were purged. Perhaps the most remarkable part of the Lightlands are the colossal walls that split the realm into three tiers; the Lowtier, which circles all of the Lightlands; the Midtier where nation-states that still exist under the Army's rule exist; and the Hightier the most heavily fortified region where the Naaru reside and a great, continent sized city spans.
Army of the Light
The dominant faction over the Lightlands is the Army of the Light which was formed initially out of the hidden cities of the Draenei after Xe'ra, the Light Mother, arrived to the Lightlands. Seeking to unite all of this realm under the banner of the Light the Draenei formed the Army of the Light and begun to unite the Lightlands in a conquest known to their own history books as the Liberation, where they 'liberated' the realms from heresy, mutants and false faiths. The human Kingdoms and dwarven Clanholds were brought to heel, the elves brought into the fold through the Treaty of Blood and the tauren tribes adopted into the Army. At the end of the Liberation all of the Lightlands stood united under the banner of the Army, where they divided the realm into three 'Tiers' in order to make a more structured and controlled society. The vast lands of the Lowtier were designed to be loyal to the over all state instead of kingdoms, so if one of the human or dwarven cities rebelled the communities of the Lowtier were not obligated to follow their Lords.
However their peace was short lived as the Collision brought the various Outerlands together and rapidly begun the Centennial War that has engulfed the Outerlands. Once great oceans bordered the Lightlands, now the landmasses of the Ironlands, the Stormlands, the Frozenlands and the Twilightlands flank the continent on all sides, ushering an constant Age of Warcraft. Word of the Lightlands have reached other realms- one of verdant fields and shining knights, a tempting prospect for those suffering under other rule. Some refugees have come to Lightlands and the Army has brought them into the fold- by stripping their previous identity. They can't let the taint of the outside world enter their lands after all. New Crusades have been launched to retake lands of the Lowtier that burned and were lost under invasion by the other factions, as well as to push into these lands to cripple their enemies and take territory.
Notable Members
The Mother of Light and true ruler of the Lightlands.
Grand Exarch and Executor of the Council of Exarchs.
Uther the Lightbringer, the Scarlet Highlord.
Liadrin, the Blood Matriarch, is the leader of the Blood Knights.
Dezco Dawnchaser, High Chief of the Tribes.
The Lowtier
By far the largest of the three tiers, being even larger than the other two combined, the Lowtier is notable for being vast in its climates though is more known for its more temperate nature. Vast grassy fields littered with great farmlands dot the landscape with many, most notably human, farming communities that provide food for the rest of the Lightlands. Inquisitors investigate any rumour of corruption or heresy, and generally these communities are marked as being blessed with low intelligence, short lifespan making them subservient to the greater Army. Many peasants are recruited from these lands as well as low rank and file for the Crusades, being disposable for the greater Army though still invaluable to serve as the bulk of the various Crusade's numbers. These peasants rarely ascend in rank as Knighthood and Paladinship is reserved for the nobility though on occasion an exception is made for individuals of remarkable service. These villages are usually owned by one of the protectorates of the Midtier some retain self governance and are of notable size, such as the community of Sentinel located in the golden grass fields of the west, long having been self reliant from their supposed 'patrons' enough that even the officials in the Hightier recongise them as their own state. Sentinel is seen as the largest of these self reliant communities, the settlement of Sentinel itself consisted of tens of thousands of people and many more farming communities rely on them for protection.
While humanity might make up the bulk of the Lowtier inhabitants they are hardly the only ones to call these regions home. The tauren tribes have also long lived here. Though in ages past tauren and humans battled one another for land and resources the coming of the Army of the Light has generally pacified relations though it is only since the inception of the Centennial War that racial tension has truly died down. The nomadic tauren tribes are also notable for having the greatest divergence in faith; they still worship the Light through they do so through the reverence of the Sun, and they see the Naaru as embodiment of that faith. The Naaru seem to allow this divergence for the tauren, perhaps seeing it as acceptable or perhaps they do not want to risk a tauren resistance to attempt at rectifying said faith. Places of religious importance for the tauren tribes are pocketed across the region too, deep green valleys or red mountains where stories and myths that make up the cultural heart of the tauren people reside.
A great inland sea sits within this realm, located mostly in the north-east of the region. Referred to as the Epeirac Sea it is an immensely large body of salt water where one could sail in a direct line for days before seeing the other coast. Many fishing communities have been settled along the coastline of the Epeirac Sea as well as cultures more reliant on fish. Some of these cultures once formed a religious connection to the sea, worshipping the Tidemother, however the coming of the Army of the Light has eradicated most of this faith with them demonizing the old faiths as that of monsters and heresy. Some more isolated human communities might still practice this faith but they are usually especially isolated from others. Piracy is also a problem for the sea, as it is vast and contains many islands for pirates to hold as their own.
Following the Collision and the onset of the Centennial War the Lowtier has seen the bulk of the invaders' war. Most of the Lowtier has seen war from the various incursions of undead to the warmachine of the Iron Horde, burning countless villages and blighting the land. The Army of the Light have deployed many Crusading Orders to reinforce vital settlements and checkpoints across the Lowtier, however the territory is too vast and their enemies too numerous to properly defend. The territory under Sentinel are the most protected parts of the Lowtier, much of the rest are either too isolated for the Centennial War to reach or have been burnt by the fires of war already, with ruined cities and villages now dotting the Lowtier waiting to be reclaimed by various Crusades launched by the Army of the Light.
Protectorate of Sentinel
Located in the western folds of the Lowtier is the Protectorate of Sentinel, a self-reliant community of farmers, fishers and other peasants who do not answer to any of the Seven Kingdoms of the Midtier. Their founding was in the wake of the Centennial War's beginning, when enemies such as the Iron Horde and Scourge begun to invade their lands. Prior to their own relative independence these lands fell under the jurastriction of Azotha and the city of Stonewind however they felt abandoned after the then reigning King Adamant withdrew soldiers to protect the Midtier, leaving the fields around Sentinel to burn. The people of these lands rallied together and formed a militia to defend themselves, eventually gaining enough automatony to form a fledgling government that was recongised by the Council of Exarchs. The Protectorate formed a democratic style of government by electing their head, the Chief Protector, to office every ten years. The current Chief Protector is Gryan Stoutmantle who is the sixth Protector and is on his second term. He had gained renown by serving in one of the Crusades before taking office and is even one of the rare peasants to be granted the right to become a Paladin. Sentinel peasants are often drafted into Crusades, most notably the Silver Crusade.
The city of Sentinel itself is derided as being akin to a collection of houses, markets and other buildings haphazardly scattered across hills, their streets are winding without planned direction and they lack the grid like structure many of the other cities of men have. The quality of life is also relatively low, as much of the Lowtier is, as while they have healers and the such the compact nature that many of its inhabits live mean they effectively life on top of one another, with diseases running rampant in some parts. At the center of the city is the First Sentinel, a very tall tower that also functions as the governmental body of the Protectorate.
Tauren Tribe
The largest of the tauren tribes are the Dawnchaser, led by the High Chief of the tauren tribes Dezco Dawnchaser. The Dawnchaser are the first tauren tribe to have joined the growing Army of the Light, always having been strong believers in their Sun God An'she and they were easily able to convert that belief into that of the Naaru and the Light. They brought fellow tribes into the cause peacefully, such as their long time friends and cousin tribes the Redborn and Cloudhoof tauren, but not all were as willing to convert to the cause. Although the Dawnchaser hated the thought of fighting their fellow tribes they would eventually join the Army of the Light in bringing the remaining independent tribes to heel, always offering the survivors healing and support in rebuilding. Their after care in conquests has led to the tribes in modern times being very loyal to the Army's cause and happy to serve in the various Crusades that have formed over the years. The tauren tribes provide a number of their Youngbloods to the Army's Crusades as tribute as tauren arms is considered their greatest resources; an untrained tauren could easily kill a fully trained and armed human. The highly respect tauren Sunwalker, their word for paladin, known as Dezco Dawnchaser is recongised by the Council of Exarchs as the High Chief of the tauren tribes though his authority is respect by some tribes and ignored by others.
Most of the tribe have settled in the Vale of Winds, a great and beautiful valley of rolling grasslands and glistening lakes. They have built something of a city for the tauren in the southern parts of the Valley in what is called the Sun Rocks, great bluffs where the tauren now call their home and only reachable by great bridges. The value of life among the Dawnchaser is high, far more comparable to the cities of the Midtier than those of the Lowtier where they live as tauren can easily live to their early hundreds before being too old for active duty, some reaching two hundreds. Since the beginning of the Centennial War this life expectancy has dropped due to constant casualties of war. Unfortunately their homes have been hit by the Centennial War due to being located in the Lowtier, where some of the worst fighting of the endless war has been fought and the tauren tribes have seen many of their kin slaughtered by invaders.
The Midtier
Before the establishment of the Tier systems there was no difference between the Lowtier and Midtier, with great human kingdoms sprawling out from city-states to form kingdoms. Since the Army of the Light established themselves as the ruling government of the Lightlands this system was abolished, any human kingdom that refused to bend the knee were conquered by the Army of the Light. Seven of these former nations would join the crusading draenei, some willingly bent the knee such as Mereldaron while others resisted before submitting such as Azotha. Once the Council re-organised the realms and divided much of the Midtier into seven human protectorates, each given the task of raising the future forces of the Crusades of Light with the collective name for these protectorates being the Seven Kingdoms with each protectorate being led by a Crusader King and held close ties to the various Crusader Orders that were established to act as the vanguard of the Army of the Light. The two most influential of these seven protectorates was are Mereldaron, the nation of Faith and Paladins; and the Azotha, the warrior nation renown for possessing the greatest army among the human kingdoms.
While the Lowertier is often fraught with war and conflicts the Midtier were able to maintain a more peaceful status quo due to the colossal walls that divide the Lower and Middle Tiers. This wall was built by humans and dwarves though how well maintained it is depends on where one goes. The wall portions near dwarven or human cities are generally reinforced and well maintained, however the further away from settlements you go the less maintained with some portions being so worn down that they could barely be considered a barricade. On occasion the Midtier was invaded, with cities burning under invasion including a particularly brutal invasion of Mereldaron by the Scourge of the Frozenlands, such scars still remain years later.
Dwarven Clanholds are home to the various dwarven clans that also live in the Lightlands, each city made up of several dwarven clans ruled by a High Thane. The ruling clan of Dun Goroth, the greatest of the dwarven clanholds, is that of Clan Bronzebeard with High Thane Magni Bronzebeard ruling it. Outside of Dun Goroth other dwarven Clanholds exist scattered about the lands, some obscure others renown. The dwarven Clanholds provide arms and armour to the Army of the Light, their great forges providing these armaments while their factories produce the Army's machines of war. Many dwarves leave their holds to join the various Crusades as well, most notably was the younger brother of Magni, Muradin, who was a famous Crusader of the Army of the Light before he fell in Mereldaron some years back. While dwarves usually claim they live in lands away from other races they tend to not mention that they once shared these cold mountain homes with ice troll tribes who, notably, are no longer around and their homes destroyed. Some dwarven holds insist ice trolls never existed while others will acknowledge that they did until the dwarves drove them extinct.
Located in a peninsular over the Sea though still considered part of the Midtier is the great elven homeland of Sin'Thas. The Sin'dorei's history is tied to that of the Lightlands, having once been the dominate faction over the realm until their arrogance and ambition drew the demons of the Flamelands to their realm long before the Collision. The invasion was repulsed but left the then High elves devastated, reduced to a single percentage of their original population, and so they renamed themselves the Blood elves to honour the fallen. They would build Sin'Thas as their new home and live in isolation until the coming of the Army of the Light centuries later however because the elves proved capable of fighting off the Army the Naaru resorted to the Treaty of Blood that favoured the elves to bring them into the fold. Now the elves add their arcane might to the Armies and their homeland remains the most independently ruled portion of the Lightland being considered a client state instead of a protectorate like the dwarves and humans and is ruled by the Regency, currently Lor'themar Theron.
The Seven Kingdoms
The Seven Kingdoms was created after the Midtier was established by the Army of the Light's conquest of the Lightlands. Other human kingdoms once existed however they were abolished and rearranged when the conquests were over, with borders redrawn and those Seven monarchs that knelt to the Naaru being given large territories to rule over. While other races provide vital resources, such as the dwarves providing armaments and machines and the elves provide magical might, the kingdoms of Men were expected to provide soldiers to the Crusades of the Light. Various Crusades have been launched over the years with humans, the bulk of the Army is actually comprised of humans with the Kingdoms expected to provide the noble Knights and Paladins that only human nobility are expected to produce, the peasants are expected to be the cannon fodder of these Crusades; the footsoldiers and archers not the noble wielders of Light.
The Seven Kingdoms each do have their own identity and culture however several shared cultural traits help unite them and keep them from fighting one another, with the draenei's Aldor keeping the faith in the Light as a unifying factor. The largest of the Seven Kingdoms is the Kingdom of Mereldaron, the first human kingdom to have submitted to the Army without a fight and thus was rewarded with the greatest territorial gains. They are led by House Menethil and have been for generations even before Mereldaron was rearranged by the draenei and are known for being a dynasty of Paladin Kings. Arguably the strongest of the Seven Kingdom are the proud Kingdom of Azotha, known as the Lions, who resisted the initial invasion by the Army of the Light before being the last human nation to submit without being destroyed. Their ruling House is House Wrynn who have a legacy as a warrior dynasty themselves. Their territory is also further from the other human kingdoms infact they are the only human nation to not have a land border with another human kingdom instead their territory is separated by a mountain range inhabited by dwarves.
Eternal Kingdom of Sin'Thas
Long before the draenei left their hidden cities to form the unifying Army of the Light much of the Lightworld was under the domain of High elven kingdoms, human tribes kept to the borders while dwarven clans stayed in mountain holds. Great crystal spires and magnificent magical constructs dotted the elves' home as pride and ambition led to some of the greatest creations in the Lightlands' history, the elves coming to understand that Light dominates this world, imbuing the Light into the very air around them. The draenei attempted to warn the elves that this overt use of magic would attract unwanted attention yet their warnings were unheeded. Tragically the demons of the Flamelands would detect the existance of the Lightlands long before the Collision brought the various realms together. They were able to invade in what is remembered as the Great Calamity, scouring much of the Lightlands. The elves, with the aid of some other races, ultimately would be able to force back the invasion back it came at castrophobic losses to the elves, reduced to a single percent of their original population. In honour of the lost they renamed themselves the Blood elves and wore their colour of mourning; red.
When the Army of the Light arose centuries ago the elves of Sin'Thas proved capable of standing their ground. Their borders were warded with great Runestones to keep out demons and the elves understood the Light like a science. Still sheer numbers and technology would eventually overwhelm the elves so the Sun King at the time, the young Kael'thas Sunstrider, brokered peace at the cost of the elves' independence in what became known as the Treaty of Blood. The terms favoured the elves as while the draenei could eventually win it would come at great cost. Part of the terms abolished the elves' monarchy in favour of a Regency that still rules Sin'Thas centuries later, with Kael'thas leaving to join the courts of Sha'naresh as the First Magister of the Army. Currently Lor'themar Theron is the Lord Regent of Sin'Thas and rules from the capital, while a renown hero of the blood elves' is Lady Liadrin the leader of the Blood Knights the order of elven paladins.